Any Spanish speakers around, please?

[MirandaGoshawk]

I'd just like a bit of advice. Going to Spain next month. Is it usual/polite to say '"I want..." rather than "I would like..." in a restaurant? So, is Quiero un café, por favor? normal/polite? When I learnt French I was taught to use Je voudrais instead of Je veux. Is there a usual Spanish equivalent? I found 'gustar' but for some reason the conjugations aren't listed in my book, and I'm wondering if it means that I actually like coffee, rather than dislike it, and not that I'm asking for one. Thanks!

Whereabouts? I'm intrigued as I've never heard people talking like you're suggesting!

I lived in Teruel, maybe they're all just rude there

Where in Spain ? Many regions use Catalan Instead eg. Barcelona , Mallorca etc

maddy68 not instead but as well as. No tourist would be expected to speak Catalan, Basque or Galician, or any dialect of those. People will spot a tourist and switch to Castellano (European Spanish) even if their first language is another Spanish language.

I would say, quisiera un café por favor. Or, me gustaría un café por favor. I would like a coffee please.

No harm in being polite.

In school I learnt that to summon the waiter you say ¡Oiga, camarero! Which seems terribly abrupt, but is presumably acceptable.

I’ve been listening to a Paul Noble Spanish CD today so obviously I’m an expert (at GCSE level from 31 years ago), sitting here in my matador outfit, olé.

As Andromache says, don’t worry about getting it exactly right as a native speaker would. You are very unlikely to pass for one and making an effort is enough (and more than a lots of tourists)
As for Spanish being much more direct and less “polite” bear in mind the standard greeting on answering your phone is “ TELL ME!”
Also, as another rooster also said swear word, especially ones related to the body aren’t really offensive in general, I think it tend to be the more blasphemous ones that are.
Disclaimer- NOT a native speaker

Poster, not rooster !!

PixieRabbit the point we are making pixie is that it's not considered polite to say it in that way in Spain, just plain weird, because it's not inferred in the same way. You can be polite in other ways, e.g. body language, eye contact, smiles and say gracias when it comes.

Hoppinggreen you're right about the 'dime' that always threw me off, or getting used to answering the doorbell with just 'si', which would be horrendously rude in England!

I am probably wrong but I would say - yo quiero un cafe con leche y sin azucar por favor (excuse missing accents)

Not wrong claire but you don’t need Yo as that’s inherent in QuierO
Sugar will come separately so no need to mention that
As with all these things they key, especially when learning is to be understood. I’m sure I get lots wrong but can make myself understood in any situation and I find native speakers are pretty forgiving and happy you are giving it a go

I always say para mi when asking for something. It’s what my Spanish teacher taught. So para mi cafe con leche, por favor.

Yo is optional, not wrong

I would only say if I were stressing that it was about/for me.. e.g...

Friend 1: Un te por favor
Me: Yo, un cafe

Waiter - que quieren?
1 - un cafe por favor
2 - yo quiero un cafe
3 - si, un cafe para mi
Waiter - tres cafes

All perfectly correct and polite

Except, (at least where I live) if you just ask for 'un cafe' they'd be like... yeah but what kind of cafe?

Really, you should say un cortado/un cafe con leche/un cafe solo

DH would say "Me da un cafe?"

Sure. But in answer to the OPs question, how to be courteous.

He's never rude to whoever he's ordering from. Just adding to the conversation. Just as a previous poster mentioned that Usted is not often used.

Thank you so much to all of you! Much appreciated.

I have a story about confusion - I went to Spanish classes a few years ago and learned the basics (How are you? My name is, etc, and perro/perrito - dog/puppy). DH and I went to Spain and stayed in a hotel where one of the workers had a puppy. Perfect for me to practise. So, I asked the guy, what is his name? How old is he? He is lovely. All good. Then I said something about 'your puppy' and saw an odd look on the guy's face. When I got back to my room I looked it up in the dictionary and I'd said about his perroquito - his parrot!

While you're all here can I ask a question?

Yesterday, as part of a conversation, I said

La gente no quiere adoptar los gatos que no son mansos.

And later on I was querying to myself whether it should have been 'que no sean mansos'. The subjective has always been my Achilles heel. Can anyone help?

@thecatneuterer

Your sentence seems fine but I have a different question-- what is the meaning of the word "manso". I translate that as "meek". Is that what you meant?

@elp30 'tame'. My ex who was Colombian used it in a cat context so I assume its right, but he did say some odd shit so who knows?

@elp30 thanks btw - and of course I meant subjunctive not subjective:) although the subjunctive always strikes me as pretty subjective.

Use subjunctive for situations where the subject may or may not exist.
Sean is correct.